Toppers scholarships quota expands

THE government has given the green light to the Tertiary Scholarships and Loans Board to expand the quota of scholarships under the National Toppers Scheme.

Board chairman Dixon Seeto confirmed to this newspaper they can now include more students with suitably high marks.

"We had a quota for each preferred area of study," Mr Seeto said.

"And in some areas, the cut-off marks are very high and the allocation very small. So, we have now expanded and included the candidates with suitably high marks and they are now being contacted."

Mr Seeto said this was especially the case for accounting, medicine and engineering programs, for which they received numerous applications.

"Many of the places in the toppers scheme will be filled and because of the expanded allocation, many more students will be qualifying for scholarships, much more than the allocated spaces given to us.

"And we will balance this against the other allocations where there have not been as many applications. And we will balance that again with our budget," he added.

Mr Seeto said they had a budget of $52.5million on which they would need to keep a close eye as they extended scholarships to deserving students.

He added they were in the process of contacting those students waiting to hear from the board.